Why I Fight
by XenoRevolt
Summary: 'If You Win You Live, If You Lose You Die and If You Don't Fight You Can't Win' Those were the words a friend of mine lived by, those words fueled him to fight back against Titans. I've dreamed about fighting them but they were just that. Dreams. Why should I live a life that never guarantees me tomorrow? Why fight for those who do not appreciate your sacrifices? Why fight at all?
1. Conflicting Dreams

Walls. That was my life. Walls just walls.

I watched as clouds move, enjoying the tranquility of the quiet and warm afternoon.

"Hey Riley!" Turning my eyes from the sky to the sound of the voice, I sighed. I hear two pairs of footsteps near me as I sat up.

"What is it Eren?" I turned to the energetic boy.

Eren was my... Friend I guess. I really didn't know him much but because of the fact we shared ALMOST similar last names, we met and befriended each other. He was an energetic and determined kid. No seriously, he wouldn't back down from anything. Having his fake sister around boosted his confidence even more. By fake sister, I mean Mikasa the girl who had followed Eren. I really didn't know much about her, other than the fact that she can kick ass, I learned that the hard way when I made fun of her once.

"The scouts are returning today! Wanna go watch them?" I grinned at him. The scouts were like the town badasses. They protected us from titans, creepy looking giant naked creatures that like to eat humans. Or so we've been told, no-one I know has really seen a titan up close and personal. Hell even the guards I know haven't even seen one.

"Are you kidding? Let's go!" Another thing Eren and I had in common was the desire to see the world outside, and not live behind walls. We agreed we'd join the scouts and explore the world outside the walls and actually see the things we hear from stories of the past, like huge bodies of water that go on forever and mountains bigger than the walls themselves. Though I wasn't as motivated as Eren.

As we made our way to the entrance of Shiganshina, I couldn't help but feel the doubt of actually becoming a member of the Survey Corps. It was a dream, yes but here in the walls most dreams don't come true. Nearing the wall's entrance, I pushed the thoughts back.

When we arrived we noticed a crowd had began to form and then bells of the tower rang.

"They're here! They're back!" Eren quickly got into a sprint rushing past the crowd to be able to see. I pushed some people aside to be able to reach the front.

The gates opened and the scouts on their horses entered.

"Their numbers seems smaller than I remember" I heard someone say near me

"That's cause most of them got eaten, s'wat happens when you join the Survey Corps"

As I continued to watch, my desire to explore the outside slowly diminished.

"Moses! Moses! I don't see my son, Moses anywhere… Do you know where he is?"

I turned and saw an elderly woman approach the commander of the scouts

He turned to another soldier "This is Moses' mother. Go get it"

The soldier brought out a thing. It was wrapped in cloth and it looked like it had blood on it

"It's all we could retrieve"

The commander then fell to his knees in front of the grieving woman

"But…my son…he was helpful, yes? Even if he didn't achieve direct greatness…surely my son's death helped humanity fight back, yes?!" The woman said desperately

The commander hesitates but then spoke "Of Course. No! On the latest scouting mission, we…No, just like all the other missions…we achieved nothing at all! My incompetence has done nothing but needlessly send soldiers to their deaths! We haven't found anything out bout them!"

My eyes widened 'What? Were those death...Meaningless?'

I shook my head and turned around, not wanting to see anymore of the scene.

'Maybe the walls aren't so bad'

* * *

 **They attacked... The titans... Shiganshina fell and soon Wall Maria with it. Later I had learned 10,000 people died or were eaten during the attack... Including my Dad. He had been my only family and the titans took him away. It seemed on that day everyone had lost a relative, creating all different types of tragic stories of the Attack of the Titans.**

* * *

Everyone was placed in boats to be escorted somewhere safe.

Everyone except me.

The boats had reached their maximum capacity and couldn't hold anyone else, or atleast that's what they told us. I knew damn well they just wanted to get out of there and save their own skins.

After I was left behind with the others, I started to panic and tried to find a familiar face that I could maybe tag along with. My search was quickly ended when suddenly the inside wall of Shiganshina was burst open by some armored looking titan.

I ran.

I ran back into Shiganshina.

I kept running and running to the point I couldn't tell if my legs were still there, my only goal was to find my house, and sleep everything out.

'Maybe my father was there waiting for me' I thought as I ran. I knew that the probability of him surviving was slim, but it was the only bit of hope that kept me moving and not from dropping dead.

One more corner.

Just as I had thought.

My house was no longer there including my father who had been inside, what replaced it was a rubble. Wooden beams and fragments. Before I could mourn, the ground had began to shake.

I cursed to myself and ran to hide.

'Where else can I go damn it!' I closed my eyes trying to think. Eren that lucky bastard...Eren... Eren's house!

I stood up and quickly ran to where his home had been 'Even if it was crushed my titans, Eren had always talked about his dad's basement and the mysteries behind that locked door...Shit... I forgot it's locked!'

I didn't care.

'I'm going to survive no matter what! Even if I have to bust that door down!'

For some reason this goal gave me more energy, as if my own body was saying that the basement is where I could find haven. Safety.

After of what seemed like hours of running, I finally reached his house. It was destroyed by a stray boulder. After searching, the latch leading down was out in the open.

I tried to open it only to hear a click sound of its lock.

I looked around trying to find a way. I found a rock. And a stick.

* * *

"EUGHUUUGUGHUHUHUHUHUH PLEASEE OPEENNN!" I screamed desperately as tears fell out of my eyes.

The ground shook as a titan approached me.

I banged the rock on the wooden latch but to no avail.

I closed my eyes and began to think. 'What would Eren do'

"I got it!" With fiery determination I grabbed the rock and I hit the latch but this time harder!

"KAMEEHAAMEEEE!" Before I could finished my war cry, I broke through the latch. I quickly unlocked it and pulled my arm out the hole, causing splinters and cuts to appear on my arm.

I ran inside and quickly closed the latch. Using the hole to see, I watched as the titan neared the latched and looked down at it. I felt as if its eyes were on me.

I waited until it lost interest before beginning to move once more. As I took steps down the basement I felt an eerie wind blow past.

Suddenly light began to illuminate down in the basement.

"Hello?"

Near the bottom of the steps, he saw a man packing things into a suitcase. The man turned in surprise.

"Riley? Riley Jaegar? You're my son's friend right?"

I nodded "Y-yes what are you doing here sir?"

He smiled "I could ask you the same thing, after all this is my basement"

"I wanted to escape the titans so I thought i'd come here" I looked at his briefcase which was still ajar. It contained two syringes inside both filled with green liquid. "What's that Mr. Jaeger? Is that medicine?"

Grisha, Eren's father, turned to look at his briefcase then back down at me. He smiled and took one syringe.

"Yes it is, Riley. You see there's a plague going around that causes people sickness and soon death, I was planning on releasing it but the titans attacked. Since you're here how about you get the first antidote"

I looked at him with a raised brow "But you only have two? Isn't it better to save it?"

Grisha shook his head "No of course not. I was going to use one to be replicated and give out and I was going to use the other as a backup but I saw no point so now I just have an extra. So you want the shot?"

I paused before nodding "I'll do it... Will Eren and Mikasa be getting shots too?"

"Eren will get one too yes... Mikasa no. No more questions, hold still" I nodded and waited for the shot.

Grisha injected the serum inside my arm, I winced at the sharp pain. At first it felt like normal then I my body began to burn up

Then everything went black.

* * *

 **Grisha's POV**

It worked. It actually worked. It looks like the Reiss family was worth doing all that trouble for.

I watched as Riley turned into titan and began to destroy his surroundings. It looked like he was a 20 meter or 15. Riley caved a house in and roared. I flinched, he's strong. Stronger than I hoped he'd be. 'Now to make him into a shifter'

I turned around where there was a sleeping man.

'I'm sorry it had come to this'

I turned back towards Riley and yelled.

"Riley! Over here!"

I doubt he could understand but it caught his attention.

I smiled as he made his way towards to where I and the sleeping shifter had been.

"Now that I know this serum works, Eran's going to get his" I said as I clutched the last vile.

* * *

 **Riley's POV**

My body felt...Different. I looked at my hand and made a fist. It felt normal but yet so different.

After I blacked out, Eren's dad said it was a side-affect of the medicine and that it'll be fine in a couple of days. Afterwards, the Garrison sent more boats for survivors and now we were making our way to Trost.

When we docked, Eren's dad grabbed my shoulder "Don't tell Eren about the medicine. He hates shots and if he found out, he would refuse potentially endangering everyone"

I nodded "You can count on me"

He smiled "Thank you. I'm going to try and find him, why don't you look around too"

With that, he left.

I began to wander, not really knowing where to look hoping I would run into either Mikasa or Eren. The more I walked the more I became sensible of my hunger.

'That's right... I haven't ate since I blacked out and I don't have money' I noticed I had ended up somewhere near the center of town where rations had been given out.I looked around and spotted a blond girl getting two loafs of bread from the rations officer.

'Maybe taking one isn't so bad, beside she's already got one' I followed her as she made her way down the street. She sat down on a bench and placed the loafs on her lap. I slowly crept towards her trying not to be noticed. 'Wait. What if the other loaf is for someone else? What if it is someone else's and they haven't ate'

'But I haven't ate in three days, they could live'

'But what if they had arrived today, like me'

'NO. TOO BAD. I NEED TO EAT!' Making my decision, I bolted into a sprint and swiftly grabbed a loaf, just when I thought I was in the clear I fell towards the ground. Hitting it with a loud thud I clutched the loaf on my chest trying not to drop it then I felt someone kick me over onto me back.

It was the girl. She looked at me with cold, emotionless eyes. Blue, beautiful crystal eyes. She knelt down and took the loaf from me. My expression fell into sadness and defeat. I guess she noticed because she split the loaf in half and nonchalantly threw it at me. I caught it almost dropping it on the ground.

She turned around and began to walk away.

I quickly looked back up "Hey wait, what's your name!"

She didn't answer and kept walking.

"Well thank you, anyway!" I smiled then looked at the loaf. I ate it slowly trying to conserve some just in case I won't be able to eat after this.

I sat on the bench where the blonde girl had sat in and chomped on my loaf while watching people pass. Some I recognize from the streets back in Shiganshina but never really talked to. Just store owners and common pedestrians.

"Riley?"

I turned and saw Mikasa and Armin, another friend of Eren's and an acquaintance of mine. The kind blonde boy was one of Eren's support pillar like Mikasa, but I never really go to know him as a friend.

"Hey Mikasa, Armin. Am I glad to see you guys" I say with joy. Speaking of Eren "Hey where's Eren?"

"We met up with his dad, he went to speak with Eren about something"

I nodded "Ah... So how are you guys? Is everyone okay?"

"By okay, you mean traumatized? Then yes were all okay" Armin said sitting down. "I just hope my grandfather comes back okay"

I look at him quizzically "Why where'd he go?"

"Back to Shiganshina, to retake Wall Maria"

I remember something "Wait, you mean the large trail of horses weren't soldiers? Just mere civilians?!"

Armin nodded

I shook my head in disbelief "I can't believe this, how are they expecting common folk to fight something they've only seen once!"

"It was a logical choice"

I turned and looked at Mikasa horrified "What..."

"Because of the refugees, there is a ration problem occurring here, some were sent to retake Wall Maria, others to work in the fields. If you get rid of them, then the rations problem would slowly disappear"

I looked at her with a glare. "People aren't expendable. People are people, with lives and families. I doubt you'd understand, since you don't even have one"

Armin covered his mouth in shock as I stood up and walked off. Mikasa didn't retort as I walked away.

I kept walking, as thoughts flood my head

'That was uncalled for... Mikasa didn't deserve that. I should apologize, after what she's gone through"'

Snapping back into realiaty I found myself near the canal. I sat down on the steps as I watched the clouds move. My thoughts were going crazy as if something had clicked.

Then thoughts about my father popped up.

He had been a hard working man, he worked so hard. For me. His only son, his only child. Tears began to form around my eye as memories of my past with him began to replay in my mind.

Then remembered why I left the house.

* * *

 _"Dad... What type of job do you think is best for me?"_

 _I looked at my father with nervous eyes as he washed the dishes_

 _"For you? Hmmm...Engineer of course, you have a thinker's mind. One day maybe you'll be able to get a good living."_

 _I clenched my fists "Dad, what if I told you that I want to join the Survey Corps"_

 _Silence reigned the room. Then he spook in a quiet voice_

 _"We've talked about this... My son. My ONLY son, is not going to become titan fodder"_

 _I gritted my teeth "And why can't I! Mom ser-"_

 _"AND NOW SHE'S DEAD!"_

 _I clenched my eyes shut. I felt a pair of arms embrace me._

 _"I work for YOU. I give you everything you want. I provide food and shelter. Please, just listen to me once. Living a life of a hero never guarantees tomorrow. Your mother had died for nothing and I don't want the same to happen to you so live a normal life."_

 _I push him off and look at the ground, tears streaming down my face_

 _"I AM going to become a scout! I am going to prove to you that Mom didn't die for nothing! I'll prove no-one in the Survey Corps has died for nothing! I'll prove to you I WILL SURVIVE!"_

 _I fast walked out the door, slamming it behind me._

* * *

I wiped the tears from my eyes but it seemed like they were running on their own.

"Why are you following me"

I look up and saw the same blonde girl who had given me the bread

"Why are you crying"

I quickly wiped the tears "I'm not crying... It's the wind, it's burning my eyes."

I didn't hear her reply... Maybe it was the sound of me sniffling. I spend the next 5 minutes sniffling and wiping my eyes, afterwards I turned back to the blonde girl who had given me a disgusted look.

"S-sorry about that I..."

"You were wiping your eyes from the wind I know, you still didn't answer my question"

I looked at her confused "Your question?"

She sighed in annoyance "Why are you following me?"

I looked at he even more confused "Follow? Lady I don't even know you, I just came to get away from some things and ended up here"

She looked at me with those same cold, emotionless eyes from before.

"Is your face always like that?"

She sat down just a couple steps away and looked up in the sky in thought. I expected no answer anyways.

I looked up at the sky, at the moving clouds. The same ones I saw three days ago.

"Hey, I never learned your name. I wanted to thank you earlier for the bread."

I looked at the girl slowly blink keeping her eyes at the sky. I sighed and went back at looking at the sky.

'Worth a try'

A couple more minutes pass when the girl got up and began to leave

"See you around, Blondie" I said waving without turning to face her.

"It's Annie...Annie Leonhart"

I smiled and turned "Well see you around, Annie"

She didn't respond and continued to walk away while I continued to watch the clouds.

* * *

 **2 Years Later**

I watched the clouds slowly pass as I waited for the supply boat. My dreams of becoming a soldier were put to bed, I worked as a dock worker making sure each supply is accounted for. Eren, Mikasa and Armin had joined as cadets for the 104th Training Corps, it's been six months since I've seen them. Some part of me wants to join them and honor my mother's legacy but another part wants to honor my father's wishes. In the end, I was stuck with this.

"HEY YAEGAR! GOT A SHIPMENT OF SUPPLIES NEEDING TO BE DELIVERED TO ONE OF THE TRAINING CAMPS! GET A WAGON AND HORSE AND TAKE SEAN WITH YA TO DELIVER THE SUPPLIES!" I heard my superior yell from the lower level of the dock.

"Got it boss!" I grabbed my hoodie and then placed my dark green cloak on top off it. It look like I had been a member of the scouts. Heh I guess I did get to live a part of my dream after all. That is extremely sad.

"Hey move it Riley, supplies don't move themselves you know" I heard my partner, Sean say already holding the reigns of the horses.

"Yea, Yea, I'm coming" I checked and made sure the cargo was on firmly and then hopped in the passenger side of the wagon. "Alright, let's get a move on"

It's a 2 hour trip from the docks to the training camps, so I put my hood on and began to get comfortable. I needed to catch up on sleep.

"Wake me up when we get there"

"Sure thing, bud"

 _2 Hour's Later_

"Jaegar, wake up we gotta unload the supplies"

"mmm- 5 more minutes"

"I didn't know you got lazy over the months Riley" My eyes twitched at the familiarity of the voice...Was that Eren?

I rose slowly, groaning as I did.

"What the hell?" I looked up and saw Eren with a grin on his face looking at me. Behind him was a man in a trench coat, he looked pissed off.

"Get off your ass and help unload the supplies" He said threateningly. I nodded still trying to wake up, as soon as I stepped off the wagon, I missed the step and landed on my face.

Sean and Eren laughed while the man only glared at me. I quickly got up and dusted myself off.

"Sorry, sir" I quickly moved behind the wagon and began to carry boxes. I looked at Eren "Where do we put them?"

He motioned at a medium sized shed "There, I'll show you"

I grabbed three stacks and followed Eren to the shed. As we walked, we passed the cadets training in hand to hand combat, it made me wanna jump in and join them. I sighed.

Eren glanced at me then at the cadets in training "Say, Riley. Why don't you join the cadets? You can still apply you know, but you'll be pushed hard to catch up with everyone.

I smiled at his offer "Thanks, but no thanks... I'll stick being a dock worker"

We entered the shed and he led me to the place to put the supplies. Sean came in with the last boxes and placed them down.

"Sorry to interrupt your reunion but Riley we've to open these up and go through the checklist and finish the rest of the paperwork" I nodded toward him then faced Eren

"Well duty calls"

He nodded "Yea, I got to get back to training anyway. Hey maybe both of you can join us for dinner if our instructor allows it"

"Well see" Sean said. Eren turned and exited the shed, while I began to open the boxes.

"Whoa 3DMG... Haven't seen one this close before" I touched the handle of the controller which held the blade and the controls for the hook and gas. Sean looked at it in interest

"Gotta admit, these soldiers get cool toys. Too bad civilians can't own any" I looked to the ground then nodded

"Yea... Let's just get these boxes open and finish the rest of the paperwork"

* * *

"That should be the last page sir" I said as I held out the last of the paperwork to the instructor. He signed it and then looked at the 3DMG we had set up throughout the shed.

"Thanks" He then turned to Sean and I "Why don't you boys head to the mess hall and get something to eat, I'm sure you've seen it throughout the time you worked. Sean nodded in response while I looked out the window and noticed what looked like swings in the back.

The instructor noticed "You wanna try it out? Our cadets use it to practice on their balance for the use of ODM or 3DMG whatever they call it these days"

My eyes lit up "If you don't mind sir"

He nodded "It's fine... Do you want to try it out too?" He said the last part towards Sean who shook his head.

"No thanks, I'll just head down to the mess hall and grab a bite" He left after. The instructor motioned for me to follow him and we approached one of the sets. He grabbed something from one of the crates near the set and threw it at me.

"Put that on"

I caught it and looked at it. It was a belt. Not questioning the instructor I put on the belt replacing the one I had been already wearing.

"Stand in the middle and hook yourself up"

I nodded and grabbed the two metal cables by my side. I hooked them onto the latches on either side of my belt.

"I'm going to crank it up. Get ready"

I nodded and he began to crank the lever which began to pull the cables and began to rise me into the air. Both of my feet left the ground and soon I was high in the air. I just hanged there not really knowing what to do, after a couple of seconds of nothing happening I turned to the instructor.

"So... What am I supposed to do, sir?" He just looked at me with a hard gaze. I got creeped out fearing I said something wrong, then he began to crank the cables down.

"What's your name"

As I unlatched myself from the device I turned to him "Riley Yaegar, Sir"

"Yaeger? Are you a relative of Eren's?"

I shook my head and chuckled "No sir, last name is spelled with an a.r. in the end not an e.r. but both are pronounced similarly"

He nodded his head understanding "You're a natural at balancing mid-air. Have you ever thought of joining any of the branches in the military?"

I nodded "I wanted to join the scouts but... Personal affairs prevented me to do so"

He nodded "Well if you ever change your mind you know where to go to...Go get something to eat, Yeagar"

I nodded "Yes, sir ,thank your, sir"

I turned and began to walk towards the mess hall

* * *

I approached the door to a small building where I heard laughter and people talking. I stopped and looked at the sky.

'It turned dark quick, how long were we working for?'

I sighed in tiredness and grabbed the handle to open the door. As I stepped in, the cabin grew quiet and all eyes were on me.

"Uh... Hi?"

"Riley?" I turned to the sound of the voice. I saw Armin waving, next to him was Eren and Mikasa the former cheekily smiling at me. I smirked and approached their table then sat down next to Armin, the cabin returned to their normal volume afterwards.

"Hey, guys. Long time no see" I said to Armin and Mikasa, who just nodded in response.

Eren looked at my belt "So you decided to join?"

"Huh?"

He pointed at the belt "Oh that! I was just testing out the ODM balance thingy"

"Really? What did Shadis say?" Armin said. I turned to him confused.

"Who's Shadis?"

"The instuctor"

"Oh, well he didn't say anything. He just glared at me then asked me for my name" Eren looked at Armin then faced me.

"And he didn't say anything back?"

I shook my head. I felt someone sit next to me and I turned to see Sean.

"Hey, I got us this" He passed over a bowl of soup and bread. I nodded greatfully.

"Thanks" I turned to the others "Guys, this is Sean Cold. My partner in crime."

I pointed at Eren "That's Eren Yeager"

Then at Armin "Armin Arlert"

And finally at Mikasa "And that's Mikasa Ackerman"

Sean nodded at all of them then looked at Eren "So your Riley's brother? I mean I can see it actually same colored hair, Riley just looks a bit more toned"

I face palmed while Eren laughed "No were not brothers, our last names are spelled differently but pronounced similarly"

"oh"

Sean said as he began to eat. I began to eat and chatted with others while I did so. We talked about our childhoods and reminisced about the the years we worked to get to where we are today. We talked about the military branches and then the scouts. It wasn't long before Eren started to get riled about killing all the titans which cause unwanted attention to the table. He got into an argument with one of the other cadets which ended quickly when the Instructor stepped in after hearing all the noise.

All the while this happen I kept sipping on the soup thinking about the military 'Maybe I should join. Maybe the Military Police will be good for me, that way I'll be safe and still serve humanity just like my dad wanted but sitting and relaxing all day isn't really living out in my mom's legacy. It has to be the Scouts or nothing at all. If only those damn titans didn't attack, I wouldn't be having these thoughts. I would be at home with my dad arguing like we normally did. I would come home later and be friends with him again'

The thought of the titans cause sudden anger to rise within me.

"Breaking our property now, Yaegar?"

I snapped out of my trance and looked up and noticed the Instructor glaring at me. I looked at my hand and noticed I had broken the metal spoon. I dropped it in horror.

"S-Sorry sir, I was just thinki-"

He sighed "A cheap spoon doesn't really matter to me, Yaegar. Just control that temper of yours. Anyway I came to get something that you forgot to give back"

Knowing what had been talking about, I stood up and took off the belt and handed it to him. He looked at it before glancing back up at me.

"You know my offer still stands. You can still join the 104th Training Corps, you've already perfected ODM balance training. You'll just need to catch up with the rest"

I smiled "I'll think about but for now, I'll continue working as the common man"

He nodded and began to walk away. Just before he exited he looked at me once more "You've got a lot of fire within you, Yaegar. The same fire that I see in Eren, you might not be brothers but you both share the same hate for the titans, you'll be a useful asset if you do join"

He exited leaving the cabin in silence. I looked at Eren who seemed to be lost in thought the his gaze snapped to me

"Join... Join the scouts! Join like how you've always talked about when we were kids!" I looked at him firmly.

"Eren... You know why I didn't join and it's final. Look I did say I would think about his offer, so just give me time to think"

He sighed and nodded "Fine but don't take too long"

Sean stood up clearing his throat "Riley, I think it's time for us to go back, don't wanna piss off the boss now do we"

I nodded "Yea... It's great seeing you guys again"

"You too. Have a safe trip back"

I smiled at them then got up and exited the cabin.

Sean and I prepped the wagon and made sure everything was in working order.

As I was tightening the ropes carrying the spare crates containing spare 3DMG, I hear footsteps approaching from behind me

I turned and my eyes widened

"Annie?"

She looked at me with the cold eyes I remember her always having. I stood up and turned smiling at her "What, you here to say your goodbyes or something?"

She stood there silently before looking up into the sky

"What happened to your dream of serving the Survey Corps?"

I froze and looked at her. She looked back at me.

"Remember? It was two years ago, you were there on the steps of the canal. It had been the third time I saw you"

I closed my eyes thinking, digging up memories.

* * *

 _"It's you again"_

 _I turned around and saw Annie, standing on the steps above with one hand on her hips._

 _"What? You following me now, lady?" I smirked at her, she scoffed and sat down on the top step. We sat in silence looking at boats passing in the canals._

 _I turned to her_

 _"You ever dream of joining the military?"_

 _She looks towards me and stares._

 _"Dream? No. As a job. Maybe"_

 _I nodded "Well I'm going to join the scouts! I'm going to take down Titans and be a hero!"_

 _She looked back towards the sky._

 _"Living a life of a hero never guarantees tomorrow"_

 _I froze and turned to her with wide eyes_

 _"What?"_

 _"I'm saying you'll die... Forget about that dream, if you truly want to serve then join the Military Police"_

 _I stood up clenching my fist. She looked at me her glare softening._

 _"You're wrong. I won't become one of those leeching pigs who just take from the people. When it comes to fighting Titans they forget their training and run away like cowards"_

 _I walk past her and headed home._

* * *

I sigh "Things change, I guess."

We stood there in silence as she stared at me and I stared at the ground.

"Hey, Riley is the crate fastened?"

I look up to Sean who had taken his seat on the reigns

"Yeah. Are you done with yours"

He nodded. I turned back to say goodbye to Annie but found that she had already left. I frowned before hopping into the passenger seat of the wagon.

Sean looked at me then focused back towards the trail ahead.

I leaned back and placed my hands behind my head and stared at the sky before me. The stars shined brightly as I began to lose myself in them.

Soon I began to drift into sleep.

* * *

I sat up instantly hearing the loud sound of lightning crack

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled, I turned to Sean who was looking at the sky

"That's weird, there isn't any storm clouds. I swear I heard lightning"

I began to look around to see if anything had been hit. I sat back trying to relax

"Jeez, that scared the crap outta me"

Jean chuckled "You should've seen the look on your face when you woke up"

I shook my head and scoff "It's not that funny, idiot"

Sean smiled as he returned his attention back onto the trail.

Suddenly the ground began to shake.

I sat up again looking around "What is that sound?"

Sean stopped the horse and began to look around. He turned around and his eyes instantly grew wide. He quickly whipped the horse and made the run faster

"WHOA WHAT'S GOING ON!" I turned to try and see what he had seen, as I did my eyes widened.

It was a titan. It was big. It was running. And it was headed right for us.

"WHY IS IT RUNNING! WHY IS IT RUNNING!" I yelled in panic "THEY DON'T DO THAT!"

Sean grit his teeth and whipped the horse "FASTER!"

The titan was getting closer.

Sean looked back "It's night too... Titans don't move in the dark"

I said quickly glancing at him "THEN WHY IS THAT RUNNING TOWARDS US!"

I looked back and stared at it, it had hair along its top torso and legs. Then it did something I never expected it. It jumped.

In front of us.

The shockwave cause me to fall out of the wagon while Sean held onto the reigns.

This... Beast slapped the horse causing Sean to roll out of the wagon.

I laid on the ground unable to move while Sean ran to me and tried to get me up

"COME ON RILEY! THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR DRAMATICS!"

I winced. I landed on something and it had pierced me through my stomach "I... C-cant j-just...JUST GO DAMN IT!"

Sean smirked "You know damn well I wouldn't do that"

The beast titan reached out towards Sean who stood his ground but instead its arm passed him and reached for one of the crates. It took out the 3DMG inside and began to inspect it.

"Tell me"

Both Sean and I froze...

"D-did it j-just speak" Sean said.

It inspected the gear before looking at Sean

"What is this device called?"

Sean furrowed his brows, he ran towards the titan's hands and kicked the gear out of its hand, breaking it.

"FUCK YOU!"

The titan frowned and then grabbed Sean.

"RILEY GET OUT OF HE-AGHGH" The beast squeezed his hands shut

My blood ran cold as Sean's blood splattered throughout the ground. The beast titan threw Sean's mangled and crushed remains next to me.

"How about you, what is that gear called?"

I looked it in shock "I-It's c-called"

'I'm a coward'

"I-it's"

'Sean died fighting... I'll die crying'

"I-it's"

'First my mom'

"C-called"

'Then my dad'

"Cal-called"

'Now Sean'

"..."

'I'VE HAD ENOUGH!'

I let our a cry of anger

'TITANS...THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIEE, I WILL KILL THEM ALL'

I glared at the beast Titan

"I'm...I'm... I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Suddenly everything went black.

* * *

Lightning struck and Riley transformed into a 17 Meter Titan with tan skin and a lean body. It had bones protruding out of it's skin acting as an exoskeleton, it covered the top half of his face like a mask, to his chest and arms, down to his legs and feet. It's black spiky hair stood up, some pieces falling into bangs and covered his white glowing eyes. Where his mouth would've been was replaced by stitch like patterns as lips, where resided his sharp teeth.

The beast looked at him curiously "A shifter?"

Riley roared a roar filled with anger, then his eyes fixated onto the beast, with another loud booming roar, Riley charged at the beast, who just simply slapped him out of the way.

Riley fell into the ground hard creating a crater, the beast observed as Riley's titan began to spark up.

"Interesting"

Riley then sat back up, this time more angry.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The beast flinched "This one is stro-" It's eyes widened when Riley suddenly appeared in front of him,

Riley threw a punch with his left, the beast noticed it's arm was full of electric sparks. Once contact was made, it created a loud boom sending the beast back but Riley's arm was blown off however before he could attack again he stopped noticing it had disappeared. The beast was gone.

The glow from Riley's eyes dimmed and soon he collapsed.

From a distance a man watched as Riley's titan began to dissolve.

'So there's more shifters out there...Interesting'

* * *

 _"RILEY GET OUT OF HE-AGHHH"_

 _I watched as Sean was crushed by the titan._

 _I closed my eyes not wanting to see him_

 _"why didn't you save me"_

 _My eyes widened, I looked up and saw that I was no longer in the plains near Trost during the dead of night, but in front of my house, my old house._

 _"Riley... Why?"_

 _I stood up and began to walk towards the entrance following the sound of the voice._

 _"Sean? Is that you?"_

 _I grabbed the door handle and twisted it. Pushing the door open, I stepped in and instantly light flooded my eyes making me cover my eyes._

 _"Riley, welcome home!"_

 _I slowly uncovered my eyes in shock._

 _"Dad?"_

 _My father smiled and pointed at food "Made your favorite, why don't you start eating first, I'll be in the other room doing paperwork"_

 _My mouth was gaping as I watched him. I looked at the food he had made, it was steak. Meat was one of the most expensive things and yet he still got it, one slab. And it was for me._

 _I walked towards the table and sat down. Still looking down at the meat in front of me._

 _Suddenly the door burst open causing me to turn around._

 _"sean"_

 _He took a seat in front of me smiling as he looked down at the food_

 _"Hey! Is that steak?! Let me get a piece bro"_

 _I watched him cut the slab in half and place the other on his plate. I watched him munch down his food and swallow like he had done in real life. Real life. Is this real life? Or is this just some fucked up dream?_

 _Regardless... I want to cherish this._

 _I smiled and took hold of my fork "Hey I didn't say you could get some"_

 _Sean grimaced while he rubbed the back of his head "Sorry, bud"_

 _I fake scoffed and began to eat. Or tried to. The meat was no long there nor was my fork. The table, the chairs, the pots and pans in the sink, the whole house wasn't there._

 _"Riley"_

 _I looked up at Sean, in my horror I saw his decapitated head looking at me in anger_

 _"Why didn't you save me"_

 _Suddenly it got harder to breathe as if all the air was taken._

 _"You could've saved me if you had gotten up"_

 _"My son..."_

 _I turned around and saw my father's crushed body_

 _"Why did you have to fight with me... You could've prevented this"_

 _"NO! I TRIED I-I SEAN I"_

 _"why didn't you save me" Those words repeated_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_ _"why didn't you save me"_

 _"STOOOOOPPP! PLEASE! STOP!"_

 _I collapsed onto nothing and felt my body fall through air. I saw tears fall out but did not feel them._

 _"I tried..." I said accepting the darkness which began to overcome me_

 _"I couldn't" The tears stopped as emptiness consumed me_

 _"I was afraid"_

* * *

 **Hey guys! I hoped you enjoyed reading this as this is my first Attack Of Titan fanfic. It might be boring right now but don't worry, it'll get interesting I hope.**

 **Anyway tell me what you think of the first chapter and if I should write more**

 **And again Thank You for reading!**


	2. Rough Start

It's been two months since that incident, after I had blacked out I was found by a traveling merchant four days later in a crater. When I came to I, the merchant asked questions of why I had been there and who I was. Obviously I didn't tell him about that hairy titan that attacked Sean and I and how it was able to talk.

Instead I told him that bandits ambushed and killed my friend. I told him that I had ran away like a coward leaving my friend to fend for himself. Personally it wasn't far from the truth.

After a days long trip, we arrived in the Krolva district where there I was put into hospitalization for a whole month I was put through therapy because the events of the 'ambush' had traumatized me or as they say. That too wasn't far from the truth. Then after, I received a letter of termination from my boss, he probably thought he doesn't want some unstable fuck-tard working in his company...

Great that shit will follow me every where.

So unemployed, basically homeless and deemed mentally unstable for some fucking reason, what do you do?

Join the military of course!

So here I was, on my way to the 104th Training Corps boot camp sitting in a wagon.

The rider looked back at me "One minute"

I glanced at him then back at my hands 'No shit, I can literally see the fucking camp...Fucking dumbass'

I've been having this problem with my temper as of late, I've spent more time being angry than being happy. I feel like this'll affect me during training. Two months was enough for me to recover from Sean's horrifying death, making me slightly grateful for getting placed in therapy... However I would rather not have 'Probable mental instability' on my got damn transcript

The wagon was beginning to come to a halt, I grabbed my duffel bag and unboarded the wagon. I looked around noticing the camp was fairly empty.

"So you're the new late recruit"

I turned my head to see two gentlemen approaching me, I turned and began to walk towards them

"That I am, sirs" I gave a salute to them as they smiled at me.

"The rest of the cadets are currently training in the forests for their ODM gear, so they won't be back until later hours. We had dealt with the paperwork needed for this transition already, with that said go to your assigned dorm room and get dressed"

I nodded not really going to say anything. They handed me my papers which I began to read as they walked away.

"Oh and cadet"

I looked up to one of the gentlemen

"Shadis treated you like royalty when first got here because you were just another civilian he was trying to coax into joining. Now that you are a cadet, all that goes out window understand?"

I nodded "I wasn't planning of being special, sirs"

They nodded and continued to walk.

Rolling up the papers they had given me, I sighed and began to look for the boys' dorms. After a few minutes of searching, I was able to find it. Stepping inside, I began to look around. It wasn't too big neither was it too small, it was perfect enough to be cozy. I found my room and stepped inside, I noticed that there had been two bunk beds on either side of the room.

The bottom bunk on the left had been the only one without stuff on it so I sat down and began to unpack my belongings. It's not like I had much stuff to begin with, just some necessities and my uniform.

After getting dressed I began to walk around the camp, exploring to see if I had missed anything the previous time I had been here. It killed off a good two hours of my time, I went back into my dorm room and laid in the bed looking at the sky. It had began to turn dark, and it wasn't long before I heard the sound of many footsteps heading towards the direction of the camp.

Getting up, walked to the door leading outside and watched as the cadets jogged in. I leaned on the doorway and watched all their tired and pained faces as they passed by. Some glanced at me in confusion, some familiar faces looked at me even more confused.

As the last of the cadets entered the camp, I heard the galloping of a horse

"GET IN THERE YOU FILTHY PIECES OF TRASH! WE COULD'VE BEEN HERE HOURS AGO IF YOU HAD ACTUALLY STOPPED BEING USELESS DUMBASSESS AND RAN!" Lo' and behold, there he was. My new instructor, Keith Shadis. Like a majestic executioner I had been waiting for, he dismounted his horse and noticed my presence.

"So... You've decided to join"

I saluted him "Sir!"

"Very well then cadet... That's 20 laps around the course for missing training today"

My eyes widened "Wait what?! Sir I just got here, how could I join the training"

Shadis narrowed his eyes "50 Laps"

My eye twitched "Sir-"

"100 laps!"

I opened my mouth to retort but then stopped "Understood, Sir!"

Shadis pointed towards the track "No one stopped you from joining us Cadet! IF you truly cared about being a soldier then you would've walked your ass to the forest and joined our exercise now move!"

I sighed and began to walk towards the track. Then I began my run. Great first day.

* * *

I felt a light touch on my shoulder causing me to stir. Sitting up I began to look around, it was early in the morning, crickets still out. Feeling the touch on my shoulder once my again, I snapped my attention to my left where sat a blonde girl holding a bread and water.

"Hey, are you alright. I found you on the track passed out" She smiled at me and handed me the loaf of bread "Here, you didn't get to eat last night so I thought you would be hungry"

I looked at the loaf then at the girl. I smiled at her then reached for the bread.

"Thanks... miss?"

"Krista Lenz, nice to meet you"

I took a bite of the bread and stood up "Likewise, Krista. I'm Riley Yaegar."

Finishing the last piece of the loaf, Krista stood up and handed me the canteen "Here, wash it down"

I gratefully took a chug before sighing in content. I looked towards the rising sun.

"Looks like training's about to start... Why don't you get breakfast"

Krista looked down "Oh... That was my breakfast"

My eyes widened, I turned to her "What?! Why would you give me your breakfast"

"I felt bad for you, you just got here and I thought it was a bit harsh for Instructor Shadis to make you run 100 laps"

I looked down at the ground 'WHY...IS SHE SO KIND!'

I grabbed her hand, surprising her "THAT'S IT!"

"What?!"

I ran towards the mess hall dragging her behind me.

"W-wait, don't get mad!"

"I'M NOT MAD!" I growled. I approached the mess hall door and kicked it open. The cabin got all looked towards me, those who were still sleeping woke fearing Shadis had caught them napping

"YOU BASTARRRRDD" I yelled to the man serving the food who in turn yelped as I ran towards him stopping inches away from his face. I pulled Krista in front of me. "Give her my rations..."

"What? I can-"

"NOW!"

"Okay!"

The man handed Krista a loaf of bread and water. Krista smiled at him

"Thank you! Sorry about my friend!"

I looked at Krista with a firm expression "Look Krista, have you hear of the rule to never feed seagulls"

She looked at me curiously "No? What rule?"

I sighed "Never feed seagulls, or else they'll just swarm you for more"

"Oh..."

"Krista, we're training to be soldiers not a charity case. If someone is punished for something then let them deal with it, how will I learn if all I do is lean on you for rations" I said. Krista looked down then looked back at me with a smile

"I'll try"

'I WILL MARRY YOU, YOU GODDESS'

I nodded with a smile "Good enough"

"ATTENTION"

I turned to the cabin entrance and saw Shadis walk in holding papers. His eyes laid on me.

"Cadet Yaegar!"

I saluted "Yes sir!"

"Did you finish you laps!"

I hesitated looking at Krista who had sat down. She shrugged

"I SAID DID YOU FINISH YOUR LAPS!"

I sighed "NO SIR!"

"Really now? How many did you do"

Sighing once more "56 Sir... I passed out afterwards!"

"I don't give a rat's ass if you collapsed from heatstroke I WANT THOSE LAPS FINISHED!"

I narrowed my eyes "SIR PERMISSION TO SPEAK FREELY!"

He glared at me "Granted"

"SIR I BELIEVE RUNNING LAPS AREN'T BENEFITING ME!"

"ARE YOU SAYING YOU'RE BETTER THAN EVERYONE HERE!"

"NO SIR! I'M SAYING I WANT TO BE A SOLDIER AND BECAUSE I WANT TO BE SOLDIER I DON'T WANNA LEARN HOW TO RUN! I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO FIGHT SIR!" I screamed on the top of my lungs.

Shadis looked at me with an unreadable expression "Cadet, why are you here?"

"Because I want to kick titan ass, sir!"

"What was that?"

"BECAUSE I WANT TO KICK TITAN ASS, SIR!"

Shadis smirked "Well... If you want to learn so much, why don't you spar today"

I smiled "Thank yo-"

"I'm not finished cadet... While you spar, everyone else will be running until the day ends. Since you think learning to run isn't befitting you"

My eyes widened and instantly I felt all the hatred directed at me. Shadis's smirk vanished and was replaced by his usual pissed off face

"Leonhardt, you'll be sparring with Mr. Warrior over here, the rest of you! Make your way to the track"

I was bumped into multiple times as everyone exited the cabin

"Nice going, idiot"

I hear some say as they passed.

Shadis gave me one last look before heading out of the cabin leaving me and Annie... And the cook.

She turned to me with cold eyes "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut"

I looked down at the floor and clenched my hands into fists as I gritted my teeth. Annie looked at them then looked up to my face.

"How about you vent some of that anger on me"

* * *

"AGHH!" I screamed as I charged Annie, ready to punch her. I saw her about to punch me making me cancel my attack and block my head. Much to my confusion I felt the painful sensation of hitting the ground.

"w-what?!" I got back up getting even more pissed. I glared at Annie, who returned a bored look. I grit my teeth, 'I'm not even a challenge to her! I'll SHOW YOU!"

"FUCK YOU ANNIE AND YOUR STUPID FAT FACE!" I screamed once more as I charged at her, swinging randomly. It wasn't long before I hit the ground again this time a bit harder. I look up to see a pissed off Annie glaring down at me.

She stomped her boots on my chest causing me to cough.

"You need to calm down, jeez you're acting like a little kid... Stop wildly punching, you aren't going to win any fights fighting like that."

I growled "SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOUR ADVICE!"

Annie sighed in annoyance as she took her boot of me "Fine, I was trying to help you"

I stood up and threw my hands ups.

'I'm going to sock her shit! I just need to read her moves'

I exhaled... I used to think clearly when I stopped and breathed for a minute, it had helped me back then maybe now it'll help me more. The images began to pop up in my head. Images of why I'm here... Because of guilt.

I shook my head 'That's not gonna work anymore, not while I still have Sean's death in my mind... I'm going just have to get beat up and work from there'

I charged at her ready to hit her once more, thinking Annie would fake a punch again, he lowered his guard towards his legs. Instead Annie slapped him aside as if he was a fly.

Then at that same moment, images of the Beast appeared. Like something similar has happened to him before.

"This is disappointing... For someone who talked big about kicking Titan ass, you make a good punching bag"

Suddenly I felt something in my mind snap. Like a gear had clicked in place, instantly my mind became overwhelmed with anger.

"you..." I quietly said as I stood up "don't know me"

I readied my fist and ran towards her, Annie got into her stance and readied for another attack. I swung my left arm at her, making her shift left closer to my right, instantly I switched to my right arm and used my momentum as power.

It surprised her yes, but it wasn't enough as she blocked my hit. I scoffed and then tried going for a leg sweep at the same covering the area around her with dust, it caused her to move back with her guard down. Quickly, I moved behind as the dust faded

With as much force as I could, I charged my left arm and swung. Annie saw it coming and blocked it then tried for a punch, hitting me in the cheek. I was sent back making me more pissed off.

I stood up and glared at her... I then charged at her as fast as I could and faked a punch. Annie threw a fake punch but I didn't react and continued to run

"What are yo-!" Grabbed her and pushed her into the wooden fence, the speed I had been going in made the hit harder and broke the fence. As I lost my speed I aggressively threw Annie down onto the ground.

Breathing heavily I looked down at her in hate. She looked back at me with a pained glare as she gripped her abdomen. Was that blood?

All my anger dissipated when I saw that I had actually drove her right into a stuck nail.

"Annie! I'm so sorry, I th-"

"Don't worry abou-"

I shook my head at her and gave her a look as if she was crazy "NO! I will worry, I just hurt you!"

I knelt down and moved her hand feeling the wound. Regret and guilt began to reign my thoughts as I held her wound from bleeding.

"How could I be so stupid" I said looking down at the ground, anger at myself forming. Annie looked at me with a soft look.

"Don't wor-"

"Stop... It's worse that I hurt you but I let my own anger get the best of me. Annie, I'm so sorry"

Annie kept quiet, I guess she didn't know what to say. I kept my hand there for a little more "We should get you cleaned, if that was a rusty nail you're at risk of infection"

She nodded and tried to stand up only to fall back down and grunt. My eyes widened at a realization.

"i broke your ribs too?"

She didn't respond and kept her eyes closed before finally speaking "Don't worry about me"

I looked at her, semi-angry "How can you say that! We need to get Shadis!"

"Get me for what?"

I looked up and saw Shadis walking back up with the cadets in tow, Eren smiled at me but soon that smile vanished when he saw my expression.

I quickly saluted him "Sir, Cadet Leonhardt needs medical attention. She's suffering from broken ribs and she was impaled by a nail"

Shadis looked at me with a frown "How the hell did she get impaled by nail"

I looked down at Annie who had her gaze somewhere else "I... Got angry and got too aggressive. I ran Annie into the fence with extreme force and threw her aggressively onto the ground"

Shadis called up for a medic and then looked at me "That's 200 laps and for now on you'll be cleaning the mess hall after hours. You want to be a soldier learn how to control yourself"

He turned towards the cadets who had looks of shock on their faces "The rest of you, go eat"

I knelt besides Annie and looked down in shame.

"Annie" I whispered to her, she turned and looked at me "I'm sorry"

She closed her eyes and looked away "It's fine... And don't even start with me, It was my fault for getting you riled up"

I look at her in shock "How can you be so forgiving? I just broke your ribs and impaled you with a nail!"

She looked at me with those cold eyes "Keeping grudges can only bring you down, you just need to accept that it happened so you can move on"

The medics came and placed her on a stretcher then they took her away

I stood up the looked at the mess hall. Then turned my gaze to the track.

Sighing I began to walk towards the track.

'I needed to think anyway'

* * *

As I began to wake, I heard the sound of crickets around me.

'I passed out again...' I sighed 'And I did only 53 of the 200 I need to do'

Getting up, I dusted off my uniform and looked up at the sky, it had a red tint to it.

'Looks like it's going to rain tonight' He was suddenly engulfed with the chilly morning air numbing some of his sore muscles. He began to walk back towards the boys' dorm.

No-one else had woken up aside from staff which is weird when he had thought about it, he had expected Shadis to be already yelling at the tired faces of the cadets. Speak of the devil.

"Cadet Jaegar! What are you doing here?"

I turned to him and saluted "I'm returning to my dorm, sir!"

He glared at me "Really? You're telling me you finished your 200 laps?"

I froze 'Are you serious?'

"Well cadet?"

I looked down defeated "No sir... Only 53"

"Well get back to it, everyone has a day off today except you. I expect you to be here at noon, we'll be going to practice with the ODM gear, you do this right you can catch up with the rest of your cadets"

I saluted "Yes,sir!"

When he walked away, I sighed and slumped my shoulders "I should've kept my mouth shut, now I'll never be able to catch up"

As I walked back to the track, I saw Annie talking to two other guys.

'What is she doing here? Isn't she hurt?' It seems they haven't noticed me yet, I guess they don't expect anyone to be up this early on a day off.

"We just need to get through this for two and a half more years, then we can begin our mission" I heard the buff, blonde guy say

"Reiner's right... You need to be more careful Annie, what if you started to heal right in front of them" I heard the tall one say

'What are they talking about' I sat down as I listened to them from around the corner of the rock they had talked next to.

"I didn't expect him to have a temper-tantrum. If I had knew that, I could've taken him down" That had been Annie's voice

'Are they talking about me?'

"There's something off about him, Jaeger and him both give off that... Vibe you know"

"I hear you, yesterday when Eren had been talking about his goal to kill all titans, I felt it"

"Maybe it's a coincid-"

Suddenly they had stopped talking.

'They know I'm here' I quietly stood up and began to walk away sneakily but on my third step, I felt a firm hand grasp my shoulder and pull me back. I saw it had been the blonde guy

"What did you hear" He said in a deadly tone, I looked at the tall guy who had his back turned to me then at Annie who nervously shifted, holding her arm with her other as if she was a shy little girl

I turned back to the blonde guy "W-what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!"

"I just heard that Eren and I give off a bad vibe, that's it. Why?" His gaze softened but still unconvinced that it had been truly what I heard. He held out his hand and smirked at me.

"So... You're the one that took down little Annie, names Reiner Braun. That tall freak over there is Bertolt Hoover" I took his hand and he helped me up.

I turned to Annie with a scowl "Aren't you supposed to be in bed healing? What are you doing here?"

Reiner smirked "Aww little Annie has a little boyfrie-UGH!"

Annie kicked him down into the ground reverting into her emotionless expression. She pushed back a golden lock away from her face then turned towards me.

"I'm fine now, thanks" She said monotonously then began to walk away. I shook my head causing Reiner to chuckle

"Don't mind her. She's stubborn like that, just know that deep down in her heart, she's grateful"

I scoffed "I'm pretty sure that I was the one that broke her ribs... Look I've gotta get these laps done with... So... Talk to you later I guess"

Reiner nodded. As I walked away I swear I felt him glare at me, when I turned around he was occupied talking to Bertolt.

I turned around in wonder 'What was that?'

* * *

As I finished my 102nd lap, Eren came running down towards me with Mikasa and Armin in tow.

I smirked as I stopped my jog "Well look who it is, the Shinganshina trio"

Eren smirked and playfully punched my arm "You mean quartet, you included"

I nodded as I chuckled "Sure, quartet... Anyway what's up?"

Mikasa stepped up and handed me two loafs of bread "Here... We thought you might need it"

I smiled at her and gratefully took the food "Thanks guys... I appreciate it"

"Hey it was all Mikasa's idea, don't thank us"

"Mikasa? That's surprising, I thought you hated my guts" I said to her with a smile as she shook her head

"If you're talking about our little argument two years ago, don't worry I let go of that"

I looked at her curiously "Then how come you never talked to me?"

"No, YOU never talked to me. You know how I am when it came to conversing"

I rubbed my head sheepishly "Oh yea... Wow and here I thought you hated me hehe"

Mikasa smiled in return. Eren smiled as he watched our interaction

"Hey why don't you take a break and hang out with us... It's been a while since we last saw you in the mess hall, in fact you only been there one time since you joined"

I sighed "Can't... My ODM training is about to start, speaking of which I have to get to it now... Shadis will have my neck if i'm late"

We walked back up to the courtyard where I saw Shadis with a raincoat and ODM gear on. He was currently preparing two horses and at the same time talking to one of his staff members.

"Seems like we're about to go" I said then turned to the trio "Well, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow...If I'm still alive"

Eren and Armin chuckled "Yea... Good luck buddy, It's just you and him out there"

Shadis turned around "Anytime Jaegar!"

I turned to Eren once more "You know that's gonna get confusing real fast"

Eren huffed "Yea, why'd you have to go and get the same sounding last name as me"

I patted him on the back "Maybe I'll change it one day... Anyway, see you guys"

I walked up to Shadis who threw me a rain coat, without question I put it on and raised the hood. Shadis mounted his horse then turned to me

"What are you waiting, get on the horse"

I was shocked "Uhhh"

Shadis's expression turned to one of annoyance "Hurry up or I'll make you walk"

Not wasting I quickly mounted the horse "Sorry, sir... Just shocked"

Shadis lightly whipped his horse making it walk slowly, I did the same. "You've been running all day, you'll need all the energy you've got when it comes to ODM gears, it's weight weigh you down and make you slower..."

I nodded in understanding, as our horse trotted towards the exit of the camp, I looked over towards the mess hall porch where Eren, Mikasa and Armin watched us along with a couple of other cadets I haven't. Apart from Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Krista, Reiner, Bertolt and Annie, I didn't really know anyone else. Which is bad considering I'll be training with these people and eventually putting my life in their hand.

Shadis began to speed up, and after giving a nod to Eren I followed behind him.

* * *

"The ODM balance was just to help you balance during midflight, You still need to train on control and placement. You land on a wall to hard you're dead, you land to fast, you just broke your legs. You also have a chance on tangling your wires, so perception is key during battle"

Shadis and I had set up camp and were now on tree branches high from the ground with my ODM gear on. Rain had moistened the branches making them slippery and risky to land on.

"You're first target is over there" Shadis pointed towards a wooden structure resembling a titan, it had cushions where the back of the neck area had been "Every titan's weakness is their nape, you cut that deep enough then you win but if you fail and miss or not cut deep enough, you have a high risk of death and because of this reason precision is an important factor in battle, never engage titans when there are more than one in close proximity of each other, they may be dumb and some slow, that doesn't mean that every now and then a titan can't get while in the air. ODM cable placement is also an important factor, place it in the wrong place you might find yourself strung up by your neck, and most importantly like I said, NEVER get them tangle or you'll either be eaten or die from asphyxiation. Because it is raining, it's a perfect time for you to practice adapting to several environmental obstacles for example the slippery branches. You place your foot in the wrong way its the ground for you... Now enough talk. Take out the first target then move on with the rest"

"Right" I stood up and deployed my left hook then followed up with my right. As soon as I was in the air, I retracted the hooks and used my momentum from there. When I started to lose altitude I deployed my hooks once again.

Nearing my first target, I readied my blades. Using a tree, I swung around and cut the cushions leaving a deep gash. After confirming it was deep enough I moved onto the next.

It was like this for the next thirty minutes and I began to grow tired. The rain had gotten worse and soon fog settled in, I decided to ascend and try to find a branch to rest there but because I couldn't see much in front of me, I deployed both my hooks to the top where I guess a branch was and pushed the trigger for the rope to start to reel in.

Then, during with flight I heard a crack then felt myself descend, thinking fast I retracted one of my hooks and deployed it into a nearby tree. My right hook had been stuck on something and refused to retract. As I descended, I picked up more speed but with nothing to slow my descent I slammed right into the tree with great speed.

"AGH!" Upon my impact, the hook fell out and the I began to fall towards the ground, fortunately I wasn't far from it. I landed with a loud thud and a crack. I sat up and then soon the adrenaline wore off making me feel the burning sensation of my now broken left arm and right leg. The more I moved the more it burned and hurt.

I heard the sound of gas being released and hooks hitting surfaces. I turned and saw Shadis land near me

"You alright, kid"

I nodded "Yes, sir... Just got the wind knocked outta me, I'll be-agh!" I had tried to stand and failing to show pain as I felt my leg being hit with a million bricks

Shadis looked at my left arm "It's broken, Jaegar... Can't do much with that"

I sighed in defeat "Sir... I can still-"

"Don't worry about it... You passed after the 10th 'titan'... We need to get back to camp, we'll have to leave to tomorrow" Shadis slung my arm over his shoulder, rather uncomfortable because of the height difference, then deployed his hooks.

* * *

I felt terrible the next morning, I had gotten a fever from the rain yesterday and both my left arm and my right leg were still far from functioning. Just when I was about to catch up with everyone, I get set back once more.

I felt embarrassed the Shadis had to help me mount a horse, I had felt like a child, it wasn't long before I began to feel dizzy and laid down in front. Shadis looked back at me grumbled.

"sorry, sir"

"Once we get back, you're going to rest for the day. As far as your laps are concerned, their done with" I sighed in relief, I tried to sit up only to be attacked with a fierce headache. Shadis took my horses reigns and lead it back to the training corp. It wasn't long before I felt my horse begin to speed up.

By the time we had arrived back, everyone had already gathered to the courtyard. Our horses began to slow down and Shadis stopped in front of the whole corps. I could feel their curious gazes at me probably wondering why I was headfirst down on my horse.

Shadis dismounted and stood next to, I felt him move me then both my leg and arm erupted in pain.

"AGHASAG! SIR I CAN WALK!"

Shadis laid me down, as I tried to get up "I can! I can train today! Don't worry!"

The headache became worse the more I screamed. I pushed my body to start my broken limbs,

"COME ON! WORK DAMN IT!"

Shadis sighed then faced the cadets "Leonhardt, front and center"

I gave up and collapsed onto the ground.

'damn it all!'

"Take Riley to his room... Make sure to take his gear off of him..."

Annie nodded and leaned down "I'm going to pull you up"

"Wait I-AGH!" She roughly pulled me to my feet

"He's already broken, Leonhardt. You don't need to kill him"

I felt Annie's grip soften. I felt her wrap my right arm around her neck, then I felt her arm wrap around my waist.

"Ready?"

I nodded "Y-yea... I might be slow"

"It's fine"

We began to walk while Shadis began to shout at the cadets. We were nearing my cabin when Annie had broken the silence between us.

"how"

I looked at her "Huh?"

"how did you break your limbs... Don't tell me you fell off your horse"

I chuckled "I wish... I fell off a tree"

I saw her eyes slightly widened "oh"

It wasn't much but this was the first time I had seen Annie show emotion aside from the usual pissed off face and the bored look. In fact, this was the first time I was this close to Annie, whenever we had talked it was a good distance away from each other. The more I stared at her, the more I noticed more features I had never noticed before.

Her blue captivating eyes, the harder I had looked the more I noticed they held so much emotion. From guilt to sorrow from anger to a small sliver of happiness.

"Hey..."

I snapped back to reality and noticed we were in my dorm room. I looked at Annie's face, she had a very feint tint on her cheeks I couldn't make out.

"Uh...yeah?"

"We're here...Which ones yours?"

"The one on the bottom left"

She walked me over to my bed and sat me down "T-thanks An-?"

Annie bent down and began to unbuckle my belt

"W-what are you doing!?"

She looked up red faced "I'm taking of your gear, stop making it weird!"

"I can take off myself, don-"

"With only one arm?"

I froze and tried, I couldn't get the buckle out. Annie sighed and removed my hands.

"Trust me"

My face began to heat up "O-Okay"

Annie pulled my belt off the she began to pull off my harness.

"This is very awkward" I said trying to break the silence as she undressed me from my harnesses

She smiled "Yes... It is"

I looked at her shocked "did you just smile?"

"no"

I continued to stare at her, and as fast as it appeared, the smile was gone. I sat in silence as she pulled the last of the buckles out.

She dropped them on the floor then stood up "There... You should rest, I want to spar you tomorrow" with that said she walked out.

I took my boots off and laid down.

My thoughts were flooded by Annie, I had thought I known her but in fact I knew nothing. Maybe I should spend more time with her.

Then I realized.

My headache had disappeared.

But both my right leg and left arm were still broken.


	3. Why We Fight

**I wrote this in a different POV just to test it out**

* * *

 _"So... You're still here"_

 _Riley looked back behind him. His eyes landed on his deceased friend_

 _"Sean..."_

 _He had this dream more than once, it ends the same. Sean yells at him for not saving him, Riley breaks down then later wakes up. It's practically routine at this point but, this time he wants to break the routine and try to make peace with himself. Try._

 _"Why didn't you sa-"_

 _"Because I couldn't" Riley snapped back at the 'ghost'. He turned his whole body and faced Sean "You died because you were an idiot... You died because you didn't listen to me"_

 _Sean didn't respond and began to fade, this had been the first time Riley had actually replied to the 'ghost' instead of breaking down. Now the plain of darkness became silent. Not a single sound played._

 _Riley turned around and began to walk, he didn't know where he was heading but he walked, suddenly after what felt like an eternity, a familiar sound began to fill the plains. The sound of heavy footsteps... The sounds of running. The sound of a titan._

 _Riley turned around, his eyes widened at the sight of the Beast titan. It was smiling down at him._

 _The same smile that he had on when he killed Sean, the fear that he had in him disappeared and was replaced by anger. RAW anger._

 _"YOU DID THIS!" He yelled at it. The Beast continued to run, Riley's hands clenched into fists_

 _"RAAAOOOOOOO!" Suddenly another titan appeared, running towards the beast. This titan seemed familiar, it had an exoskeleton that looked like it had been made of bones, its black hair covered its glowing eyes._

 _With a swift punch, the titan knocked the beast down and like Sean, the beast disappeared. Riley stared in shock at the titan that had defeated the beast. It turned its head to the side and looked at him._

 _No fear nor shock ran across him, it had felt like he knew this titan or he had met it._

 _The titan began to walk towards him._

 _Riley didn't want to run in fear. He stood in place and watched as the titan knelt before him. It's big grey eyes looked at him, as if waiting for something._

 _Those eyes... They were his?_

 _"Y-you're me"_

 _The titan then began to fade like Sean and the beast... Soon his dream began to fade._

 _For the first time in two months, Riley had changed the outcome of his routine dream_

* * *

"Hey... HEY RILEY WAKE UP!"

Riley sat up, sweating.

"Hey you alright man?"

He looked up to see the two guys who had been with Eren on the mess hall porch. Nodding, Riley felt his head.

"Yea... Just... A nightmare"

The two guys looked at each other skeptically. The one with brown hair looked at me with a smirk

"Well whatever you say then... I'm Jean Kirstein by the way. That's Marco Bodt" He said pointing his thumb to a boy with black hair and a freckled face "We already know who you are, Mr. Renegade. You're the biggest trouble maker in the camp, even more than that idiot, Eren"

Riley didn't respond not knowing what to say.

"You should join us in the mess hall today, we'll save you a seat" he nodded to them as they left the room. Riley laid back down looking at the top bunk, mind racing with thoughts about his dream

'That titan... Was me'

After a couple minutes more of pondering, Riley got up and put his uniform on. As he was buckling his gear on, he froze looking at his left arm with wide eyes.

'What the fuck' Then he looked down at his right leg noticing that too was working like nothing had happened, like they didn't break 'What is going on'

Shaking his head, Riley buckled his belt and put on his boots. Afterward he stepped out.

Smelling the morning air, Riley looked down at his hands in fear

'What if... What if I was that titan'

Closing his eyes shut he thought of any logical explanations.

'NO that's not possible... It never will BE possible'

He began to walk towards the mess hall

'But who was the exoskeletal Titan, I had never seen it in before in my life'

Shaking his head once more, Riley pushed the thoughts back and filled them with more positive ones.

'Finally... Today I can train with the others, I've caught up'

He smiled to himself, he opened the mess hall doors and stepped inside. He looked around at the other cadets who were eating breakfast.

"Hey! Mr. Renegade, over here!" Riley turned his attention towards Marco who was waving at him. As Riley began to walk towards them, he was stopped when somebody grabbed his sleeve.

He looked down and saw Annie.

"Annie?"

She pulled him down, making him sit next to her. Riley looked around the table and noticed it had been empty.

"Don't sit with anyone?"

Riley turned to her and noticed she was looking at his left arm.

"I thought it had been broken..."

He pulled my arm away and looked away from her "Yea... I thought so too"

"And your leg?"

"They're both healed I don't know how but they're both healed... If you were worr-"

"I wasn't worried" Annie brushed a golden lock from her face

Riley looked at her a smirk beginning to form on his face "Is that so? Well... I'm pretty sure you were pretty worried yesterday that you began to pull my pants off"

Her face grew a very feint tint of pink "I was trying to help you..."

"Sure... 'Help'"

Noticing she began to grow pissed, Riley's smirk widened "I'm just teasing..."

He looked towards Jean and Marco, who looked back at him with a questioning look.

"Hey Annie, let's go sit with Jean and Marco... They're pretty nice guys" He said beginning to stand up

"No thanks"

"Come ooonnnn, it's not like they bite" Riley grabbed her hand and pulled her.

"What are yo-"

"Trust me" Annie glared at him before sighing

"Fine"

Riley smiled in victory "Well you look at that, two wins for me zero for you"

He dragged Annie towards Jean and Marco

"Guys this-"

"Annie, we know... Jeez Riley you're introducing us to people as if were new" Riley sheepishly smiled and rubbed his head

"Oh.. Right, sorry!"

Reiner, who had been sitting with the two looked at me

"So, you ARE Annie's boyfriend"

Riley looked at him with confusion while Annie glared daggers at him "What are you talking about?"

Reiner smirked and motioned at their hands. Riley looked down and noticed he was still holding her had, he quickly released it and grew red.

"Sorry! I th- Well I- You-"

"It's fine" She said as she sat down. He looked at her before smiling and sitting down next to her.

"Hey buddy!" Eren suddenly plopped down next to him followed by Mikasa.

"WHAT THE?! IS THE ENTIRE IDIOT SQUAD SITTING HERE!" Jean yelled with a fist in the air

"HEY YOU DON'T OWN THIS TABLE, YOU HORSE FACE!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU SUICIDAL BASTARD!"

Armin smiled at the two as he sat down next to Marco.

While the two argued another person sat down on the table, she held a hand out to Riley

"Sasha Blaus! Nice to meet you, are you going to eat your food?"

"My food?" He looked down to see a tray of bread and water "Uh? That's not mine"

"OH REALLY FINDERS KEEPERS!"

"WAIT SASHA THAT'S MY FOOD!"

A small bald guy yelled at her as Sasha took bites out of the bread

"DAMN YOU POTATO GIRL!" He sat down on the table and looked at Riley "Oh hey, it's you. Mr. Renegade, I'm Connie... Connie Springer. Every need help with the ladies I'm the man to talk to"

"Got it" Riley said chuckling

"Riley!"

Turning he saw Krista and another girl sit down on the table.

Jean noticed and directed his attention from Eren "WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS, WHY IS EVERYONE SITTING HERE NOW!"

"HEY DON'T YOU YELL AT HER LIKE THAT, HORSE FACE!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

"Ymir! Stop it!"

Riley watched in amusement as more and more cadets began to sit on the table, when there was no more space, they sat around it.

"look what you did" He turned and looked at Annie who had a small grin on her face

Riley smirked "Hey I got to meet more people because of this table than I would in a day"

"I guess that's good"

"ATTENTION!"

Shadis walked in and looked at the group "What the hell is going on here?"

Jean stood up and pointed at Eren "HE DID THIS SIR! THAT LITTLE BRAT HAS BEEN CAUSING TROUBLE ALL WEEK!"

As soon as Jean stood up the table shifted, causing a piece of wood to impale itself in Riley's finger 'Ow, damn it Jean'

Eren stood up "ME! I HAVEN'T BEEN THE ONE-"

"ENOUGH!" Shadis looked beyond pissed "Both of you! 20 Laps now!"

Jean and Eren both saluted before rushing out the cabin both muttering curses.

"The rest of you, combat training today... Get to it"

As soon as he left, everyone began to clear out talk among themselves as they did so. Riley stayed behind and looked at his hands once again. The cut he just had was gone and was replaced by steam... He looked at it mortified

'Oh my god...'

He closed his fists 'No... No must've been... Must've been the steam from the hot food... It had to... This is the dumbest excuse ever'

Standing up, he closed his fists 'I can't be Titan... I just be can't be one it doesn't make any sense'

He walked out and headed towards the courtyard

'Out of all the things I've learned about Titans, I never read of someone turning into one'

"Spar with me" Mikasa approached him and got into a fighting stance, not really aware Riley got into a stance also

'Wait, what about the old stories of the people called the shifters of something like that. Weren't they humans that turned into titans'

As Mikasa threw a punch, he reflexively blocked it and backed away

'No those were just fairy tales to make kids go to bed... But it everything so clear to the point'

Mikasa tried to kick him but he quickly dodge it by sidestepping

'Titans have rapid healing, I have rapid healing, Titans emit steam, I just emitted steam... Am I really I Titan?'

Mikasa threw dodge left and threw a left hook, it connected to Riley's nose. As he fell, there was a familiar crack sound.

"Ow! Holy shit Mikasa!"

Mikasa watched as he gripped my nose "Is there something on your mind? You seem distracted"

"No... Right now I can't even think, you just broke my nose!" She helped him up

"Sorry"

Riley groaned "It's fine... Watch, next time we spar I'll get you back"

* * *

Graduation came fast. Unfortunately Riley didn't made the top ten or as he thought, though he didn't really try. It wasn't as if he was going to join the Military Police anyway. He strolled the dark street, he missed the ceremony but it didn't matter he knew he graduated.

He was now heading towards the rented cavern where the the others had been celebrating.

Once he approached the cavern, he saw someone run out then followed by two other figures.

Riley watched as their silhouettes disappeared in the dark

'Who was that?'

Stepping in, he saw that everyone had pondering faces on. It wasn't as loud as he had expected but it wasn't quiet either.

"Yo! Jean!"

Said man looked up "Riley! Where the fuck have you been! You missed the ceremony man!"

Riley walked towards Jean with a small smirk "Me... I was just hanging around, why?"

Jean looked irritated he slammed his hand on the table as he stood "CAUSE YOU WERE SIXTH IN THE TOP TEN CADETS!"

Riley closed his mouth in thought. Jean continued to talk "I was lucky enough to get your spot but come on man. I thought you cared about being a soldier"

"Eh... It's not like I'm going to be joining the MP"

Jean sighed and sat down "So you're joining the scouts?"

"Yea"

"Just like Eren"

Riley looked around "Speaking of Eren... Where's he at. Don't tell me that he was the one that walked out earlier"

Jean nodded "Yea... He made another speech then walked out"

"Is that so? Well then, I'll go see how he is"

Jean nodded "Right..."

Not that far from the tavern, he saw the trio watching the night sky.

"Hey... Look who it is"

They turned around and saw Riley walking towards them.

"Riley? You missed the-"

"Yea I missed the ceremony, I get it Armin" He huffed as he sat down

Armin smiled and turned back to the night sky.

Riley sighed "Moments like these, I just want to treasure. Then you realize, you're living in a world where we live in fear, a world where we never get promised tomorrow"

Eren closed his fists "Not for long..."

Riley looked at him as he continued "I'm going to get rid of all the Titans, so we can all rest easy... So we don't live in fear"

Laughing Riley patted Eren on the back "Not alone you're not. Remember the Shiganshina quartet"

Eren smiled "Yea... I have you guys"

* * *

" As practiced, you will now split into your squads and perform resupply, message relay, and Titan-clearing duties under the command of the Garrison Regiment! The Garrison Regiment's intercept squad will take the vanguard! "Vanguard" "Vanguard" "Middle Guard" The Cadets, led by the support squad, will take the middle guard! "Vanguard" "Middle Guard" "Vanguard" "Middle Guard" "Rearguard" And the Garrison Regiment's elite squads will take the rearguard! "Vanguard" "Middle Guard" "Rearguard" Additionally, I've received word that the advance team has been wiped out! The outer gate has been breached, and the Titans have been allowed inside! In other words, the Armored Titan could very well appear again and demolish the inner gate at any time!"

Riley looked around at the mortified faces of the cadets around him. The Colossal Titan reappeared again and kicked down the gates of Trost, the military fought back but it wasn't enough, titans began to pour in. All hell broke loose and everybody is on the verge of panicking.

"Quiet!"

"The vanguard is currently engaged with the enemy! This defense operation has but one objective: to defend Wall Rose until the citizens have finished evacuating! Also, as I'm sure you're well aware, desertion is punishable by death! Be prepared to lay down your lives! Dismissed!"

The cadets saluted "SIR!"

As soon as the speech was finished, everyone ran in panic to their assigned locations.

Riley walked towards Eren who got into an argument with Jean.

"Are you kidding me?" He yelled towards the both of them catching their attention "There are people dying out there trying to protect this city and you are both arguing! Jean we've spent 3 years training to defeat titans! Get a hold of yourself and do your duty, if you're not up for it, you should've never signed up for the military! Eren, you're with me. Get your shit and well meet up with the others"

Jean walked off while Eren and Mikasa followed Riley.

"Eren, we're in different squads!" I turned and watched as Mikasa started an argument with Eren. I rubbed my temples 'What the fuck is wrong with everyone today'

"If everything falls apart, call for me! I'll protect you!"

Eren got irritated "Who the hell do you thin-"

"Ackerman" Riley turned to see a squad leader approaching Eren and her "You're with me. You've been assigned to the rear guard"

"Sir! I'm only a cadet, I'll only slow everyone down"

"Were not looking for a self evaluation, we need all the elite soldiers we can get"

"Sir, with al-"

"HEY!"

Riley's eyes slightly widened, Eren headbutted Mikasa

"Were on the verge of extinction here, stop worrying about your selfish needs and pull yourself together!"

Mikasa looked down "You're right i'm sorry"

"Eren, wrap this up. Our squad's waiting"

As Eren started to walk, Mikasa grabbed his sleeve "Promise me... One thing. Please, whatever happens don't get yourself killed"

Eren looked at her in disbelief, he yanked his arm from her grip and began to walk towards Riley.

"Riley!" He turned towards Mikasa "Please.. Keep him safe!'

Riley looked at Eren who began to grow agitated then turned towards Mikasa "As his squad leader, I'll protect him along with the others, but as an individual it's Eren's duty to protect himself"

Eren gave Riley a thankful nod. Mikasa didn't respond and nodded.

Riley turned back towards Eren and began walking "We're behind schedule Eren, you should've dropped those arguments, every seconds counts in this situation"

"Right... I'm sorry"

Sighing, Riley deployed his ODM gear "Let's just get to the squad"

* * *

"Armin!" Eren shouted out as he landed on the roof with the rest of the squad, Riley landed behind him.

"Hey! You guys are late! Squad 21 had to take over for us"

Riley cursed silently.

Eren and Armin watched the city both nervous "Hey look at it this way, we get this done we'll rise through the ranks in no time"

"Now, now boys don't forget were here too"

"Yeah, don't think we're going to let you take all the credit"

"Yea are you kidding!"

"SQUAD 34! YOUR UP! THE VANGUARD NEEDS SUPPORT!"

They all turned to Riley

"Alright, no stupid actions and listen to every order! MOVE OUT!"

"Yes sir!"

The sound of ODM gear being deployed was heard throughout the air.

Riley scanned the are around him to make sure there wasn't any hidden titans the others didn't see

"ABNORMAL!"

Riley's eyes widened "HOLD!"

He landed on a roof soon followed by the others.

"Where's Thomas" Riley looked up to see half of Thomas's body in a titan's mouth.

Then it bit down.

Eren froze in shock, anger slowly filled him "YOU BASTARD"

He began to chase the titan. Riley cursed, "Wait Eren!"

It was too late, Eran was too angry "Damn it! After him and stay together!"

"Sir!"

They deployed their hooks and chased after Eren. They got close to but suddenly another abnormal appeared, bit his leg

"MAN DOWN!"

"EREN!"

"Oh god no!"

"CLEAR THE STREET ON THE ROOFS NOW!"

Armin and Riley both landed on a roof but Mina's line was tugged by a titan causing her to fall and slam against a wall

"Mina!"

Riley cursed and descended down, he quickly grabbed Mina then ascended back to the roof.

"Mina take your gear off, you're still connected to that hook"

"Yes sir" she said still in shock

"PLEASE NO! PLEASE NO!"

Riley and Armin turned to see both Mylius and Nac get devoured

"NO!" Riley yelled "Armin! GET EREN NOW!"

But Armin didn't move "ARMIN! NOW!"

He still didn't move. Mina and Armin were both too shocked, they couldn't move. Riley deployed his ODM gear to get Eren but was grabbed out of the air by a bearded titan. It placed Riley in its mouth, fighting to get out, It bit down on his blades rendering him defenseless.

"ARMIN! GET EREN!" Riley yelled as began slipping down into the titan's mouth.

"NO!" Riley's eyes grew wide in shock at Eren who had stopped the Titan from closing its mouth. Eren grabbed his hand and threw him out onto a nearby roof.

"Eren what the fuck are you doing!"

"RILEY!...PLEASE TAKE CARE... OF ARMIN AND MIKASA" Then his gaze fell on Armin "AND ARMIN... I PROMISE... I'LL SEE... I'LL SEE ALL THOSE THING IN THE OUTSIDE! I'll-"

The titan bit down.

"NOOOO OHH GOD NOOO AGHH NOO!" Riley recovered from shock and grabbed Armin then Mina.

* * *

Connie sat down on the roof "I can't believe this is happening... The Headquarters got overrunned. We've got no way to resupply"

"Where's Riley's Squad? They should've retreated by now" Krista says as she looked around.

"They might've gotten eaten... I didn't see them in the front" Reiner said

"HEY DON'T SAY THAT!" Jean yelled "They have to be okay... I mean they have two of our greatest cadets"

"MIKASA! WEREN'T YOU WITH THE REAR GUARD!"

They watched Mikasa land "Annie! I know this sounds selfish but have you seen Riley's squad?"

"I don't know... Some squads ma-"

"IT'S RILEY!" They all turned and saw Riley carrying two of his teammates.

He dropped onto the roof and dropped Armin and Mina, he stared at them with cold eyes

"Riley... Were's Eren?!"

Riley's face grew dark "Armin, Mina. I want you guys to stay here, I'm goin-"

"RILEY! WHERE'S EREN!" Mikasa grabbed him by the collar.

"he's dead"

Everyone grew quiet...

Riley pushed Mikasa back softly and took a breath "Armin... I want you and Mina to stay here, I'm going to take HQ back"

Riley looked at the others "I'm looking for any able soldiers to join me. I'm going to take that tower back"

"ARE YOU CRAZY! YOU'LL GET KILLED THERE'S TOO MANY!"

"Then I'll go with him... You're all cowards... ALL OF YOU! WHILE EVERYONE FIGHTS FOR THE CITY YOU'RE ALL HERE CRYING WHEN YOU COULD BE HELPING! YOU'VE SPENT THREE YEARS TRAINING FOR THIS! DON'T WASTE IT NOW!"

"But you'll die!"

"If I die, I die but if I win, i'll live and the only way to win is to fight!"

Riley looked at Annie and stretched out his hand "We could always use another skilled fighter"

She turned and looked at his eyes. Grief, Sadness, Anger, Guilt. All these emotions were boiling up. And she knew why.

"No..."

Riley put his hand down and turned "I understand... Mikasa"

She nodded to him, then they both deployed their hooks.

* * *

Riley watched as Mikasa passed him

'What the?' He looked at her back and noticed a massive amount of gas being exerted out of her gear 'Idiot...'

"HEY GUYS!" Jean caught up to the two "BACK UP IS HERE!"

Riley's eyes widened when he saw everyone trailing behind Jean. Annie caught up to him and glided next to him. He looked at her then looked back

"What happened to no?"

"I had a change of heart"

Riley looked back at her "Do you do that often?"

She closed her eyes "No"

Riley cracked a small smile then it quickly faded "Annie... If I die today, can yo-"

"Stop... I'm not going to do that and I don't want to be involved it that, you WILL survive" Riley looked at her surprised while she kept her gaze locked forward.

"MIKASA!"

Riley's attention snapped back to see the ebony haired girl fall

"NO ARMIN! I'VE GOT HER! EVERYONE KEEP GOING TO HQ!"

Riley separated with the group and moved towards his fallen comrade.

He landed next to her and saw the tears fall out of her eyes.

To make matters worse a 15 meter titan slowly approached them.

"Mikasa... Let's go" He tried to grab her but she refused accepting death. He watched as the 15 meter got closer

'Think Riley... Think' He closed his eye and breathed deep

* * *

 _"If I win, you live, If I lose, you die but if you don't fight you can't win!"_

 _Riley lazily looked at his childhood friend "Eren what are you talking about?"_

 _"I'm talking about my resolve! My quote!"  
_

 _Rolling his eyes Riley turned back and watched the cloud._

 _"That's not pretty bad Jaeger... Maybe I'll live with it too"_

 _Eren smirked "Thanks Jaegar!"_

* * *

"Mikasa... get up" Riley looked at his friend. He stood her up, it seemed like she wasn't paying attention and accepted death. Sighing he knelt down and began to replace Mikasa's tanks with his.

"Mikasa... I'm disappointed, you're breaking Eren's promise"

This caught her attention as she looked at him

"You promised him you'd fight, till the very end... Here you are wallowing in your own sorrow"

She looked at him in shock. Riley grabbed her by the shoulders

"Wake up Mikasa! You're still alive, you've got to keep fighting! For Armin, For me... FOR EREN!"

She rubbed her eyes "You're right"

Riley smiled "great, hey listen I replaced one of your tanks with mine. Head to the HQ I'll be right behind you... I gotta take care of this guy"

She nodded "Okay... You'd better come back"

Riley smirked "Are you serious?"

Mikasa sent him a small smile "Alright, I'll see you then"

When he saw that Mikasa was gone, Riley dropped his smile.

The truth was, he only had that one tank. Now he was left with a 15 meter.

"Come on ugly... End this"

It bent down to eye level with Riley, who began to charge with it with a his blades out

"this... THIS IS FOR EREN" Riley pushed the blade inside its mouth.

The titan remain still then suddenly felt the pain of his left arm being bit down. Then he felt nothing. He felt half his body inside the titans mouth.

Time slowed down as Riley closed his eyes.

'This is it...'

Then an image of Sean and his father popped up in his mind... Then the beast titan.

His eyes snapped open

"NO! NO! SEAN, EREN! I'LL FIGHT"

Lightning struck

"AND I'LL WIN!"

* * *

"Mikasa!" Armin yelled out as he watched his friend bust through the window "I'm glad you're safe! Where's Riley?"

Mikasa sat down, tired "He said he would be right behind me"

Armin looked at her tanks "Wait... I thought your ran out of gas?"

She looked at her gear "Yea.. Riley gave me a tank, he should still have one left"

Color from Armin's face drained, Jean watched as Armin's eyes began to form tears.

"Armin... What's wrong?"

Mina looked at Mikasa in shock and horror "Mikasa... Riley used up one of his tanks to get us to safety... He gave you his last one"

The room grew quiet. Jean hit the table "NO! THAT IDIOT! WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE A HERO!" Marco placed his hand on his shoulder to comfort him

Reiner looked at Annie who was looking out the window.

"Annie...You didn't get close to him did you?"

She kept her gaze fixed on the world outside the building. Reiner looked down "I see... He died as a hero"

Suddenly a loud high pitched was heard, Reiner stood up "HIT THE DECK!"

The side wall of the building burst open, blowing away Jean. As the dust cleared his eyes widened. Two titans gazed at him in bloodlust.

They all watched as a fist suddenly knocked away both titans from view.

"What the!"

A titan, 15 meters tall with long black hair and tanned skin appeared. It roared at the titans, then suddenly another titan, a 17 meter with medium length hair, and exoskeleton armor appeared by its side.

They both began slaughtering the titans around them.

* * *

Riley growled at the titans around him

 _"Keep going Eren!"_ He roared once more before punching one nearing him, electricity danced around his arm as he retracted it. Then Eren came up from behind and punched a titan that had been trying to sneak up on Riley

Eren roared as more and more titans surrounded them

Riley growled with him as he began to run at them _"I'm not going down.. Not YET! THIS IS FOR SEAN!"_

Electricity crackled around his arm as he charged a punch, he punched the titan in the chest, penetrating it. He pulled out his arm and kicked down the titan then stomped on its nape.

Riley noticed that the cadets were on the roof watching the destruction. He saw a 15 meter approaching them, they must've not noticed/

He growled

His arm was once again engulfed with electricity as he charged his arm for another punch, the cadets looked at him shocked as he punched through the titans neck and ripped its head off. Another titan, 15 meter mounted the roof and reached...

"ANNIE! WATCH OUT!"

He hear Armin yell, Riley's eyes laid on the 15 meter and roared at it

 _"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"_

He grabbed the 15 meter off the roof then slammed it against the building. He began to repeatedly punch the titan until he had hit its nape. He turned his gaze up to Annie who had watched him in shock.

'She probably thinks I'm a monster' Riley let out a low grunt and looked back to Eren who was getting overwhelmed as more titans began to eat him, before he could move, his body had began to shut down.

 _"NO! I'M... I'M NOT DONE! EREN!"_

He collapsed onto the floor.

Eren looked at Riley's fallen form and roared. Then he saw **Him**. Thomas's killer.

He roared, knocking off all the titans that were on him, he ran for the titan, with no arms he used his mouth and bit on its nape. He lifted it up into the air the slammed it against the last remaining titans.

He roared in victory then collapsed.

* * *

Steam from both the Rogue Titan and The Exo Titan started to form, Mikasa narrowed her eyes at the Rogue titan.

"No... It can't be"

Armin's eyes widened "It's... Eren and... Riley?"

They all looked down at the fallen titans and saw both Riley and Eren emerge from their respective titans. Mikasa stood up,

"Armin, get Riley, I'll get Eren"

Armin nodded and descended down on top of Riley's titan.

"I thought you were dead" He grabbed Riley, he struggled to lift him and was about to ask for help when Annie dropped down near him "Annie, I could use your help"

She nodded and wrapped her arms around Riley's chest. She felt his heart beat.

"Let's go" She deployed onto the roof and knelt on the ground still holding Riley. Armin dropped next to her and looked at Eren.

"How... How is this possible" He turned his gaze to Riley who Annie held tightly.

Reiner and Bertolt looked at each other then at Annie.

"So"

They turned to Jean who looked back at the carnage behind them

"Eren and Riley did all this?"

* * *

 _"You're all gonna die"_

...Was that Eren?

Riley's eyes snapped open as he began to cough.

"Riley!" Jean ran up to him "Are you alright?"

"Get off me" Riley pushed Jean off

"Take it easy! He's just worried" Marco said helping his Jean

Events that happened began to play back in Riley's mind, he killed them all... He killed the titans. With Eren. The two people that wanted to kill all the titans were actually titans.

He began to laugh "ha...HA...AHA...HAHAHAHAHA"

Jean looked at Riley in horror. They all did.

"Riley?"

Riley looked at Krista with a crazed smile "Krista... CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS HAHAHAHA"

"ME... A TITAN! HAHAHA EREN AND ME ARE TITANS HAHAHAHAHAA"

Tears began to flow out of his eyes "Oh my god... MY SQUAD IS DEAD!"

"Snap out of it!"

Riley fell to the floor as the sound of a slap resonated.

Jean looked at Annie who stood over Riley.

Said man began to rub his head... "Where... Where am I?... WHERE'S EREN!"

Suddenly the sound of a cannon going off filled their ears

Reiner stood up and looked at the sky "What the hell? Was that cannon fire?"

Riley's eyes "Oh no"

He stood up quickly and deployed his hooks to the roof

"Wait damn it!" Jean yelled coming after him

Riley walked across the roof and saw the incomplete carcass of a titan. Jean landed next to him, followed by Reiner, Bertolt and Annie.

"I've got to help them" Riley jumped down and began to run towards the carcass

Many Garrison soldiers tried to stop him but he kept running,

"WAIT HOLD YOUR FIRE! THEIR FRIENDLY THEY ARE NOT THE ENEMY!" Riley stopped in front of the Garrison captain

"Sir, you need to call your troops off, they're friendly sir! Please!"

"FOOL! CAN'T YOU SEE HE'S IN A TITAN! HE IS THE ENEMY" He raised his arm in the air.

"You bastard" Riley ran towards Eren and raised his hand to his mouth.

"FIRE"

"NO!"

A sound of a canon erupted once again. Another carcass formed this time bones protruding from the titan protected them

Riley grunted as he slipped out of the titan

"Riley!" Armin ran up and helped him out. Mikasa and Eren both ran to them.

"I just bought more time... I hope you guys thought of something" Riley collapsed onto the ground exhausted. Eren looked at him in thanks.

"Yea we did... Armin's going to try and convince them, he's the smartest out of all of us"

Riley looked at Armin "Armin... As your squad leader I order you to save our assess"

He nodded and began to walk towards the exit of the steam.

"HALT!"

Riley fell back trying to stand. Eren kept him down,

"I know transforming took a lot out of you so rest up.." Eren looked down then returned his gaze "Riley... How long have you been a titan?"

Before he could answer, Armin's yelling was heard throughout the smoke

"They are not enemies of humanity! We're willing to disclose everything we've learned!" Armin said pleading

"Begging for your lives won't help you! They've revealed his true form for all to see! What more is there to say?! If you insist they're not our enemy, then show me proof! If you can't, then we'll simply eliminate the threat they pose!" The captain yelled back

"There's no need for proof! That's right There is no need! In fact, this isn't about what we perceive them to be! What?! I hear that countless people saw them! In which case, they surely saw them fighting Titans as well! And they must've seen the Titans swarming around them too! In other words, the Titans saw them as prey-just like they see us! That's an irrefutable fact, however hard you look at it"

Riley smirked "Hey... He's doing it"

"But they're still not convinced" Mikasa says. The steam were now gone. Their only cover gone and now all the hostile soldiers could see them.

"D-Damn it" Riley tried to stand only to fall back to his knees. He heard the clicks of the guns. "Armin... We're counting on you... Please just think of something"

The captain raised his hands. Riley stood up with fists clenched

"S-STOP!" He yelled but his cries fell to dead ears

Armin saluted and with all his voice, yelled his final cries

"AS A SOLDIER, I HAVE LONG SWORN TO GIVE MY HEART FOR THE RESTORATION OF HUMANKIND! NOTHING WOULD MAKE ME HAPPIER THAN TO DIE FOR THAT CAUSE! IF WE COMBINE BOTH OF THEIR TITAN ABILITIES WITH OUR OWN REMAINING MANPOWER, WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY! FOR HUMANITY'S GLORY, IN WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE, I WILL CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE THEIR STRATEGIC VALUE!"

Time stood still as the captain pondered.

"t-they have to believe us" Eren said

Riley looked at the captain with a scowl "If he can't see the benefit of having two titans in their side, then they're stupid"

The captain looked back at them and raised his hand.

"d-damn it all!" Riley raised his hand to his mouth ready to bite down.

"ENOUGH!"

The captain turned around "Commander Pyxis"

Pyxis walked past the captain

"Can you not see that soldier's splendid salute? I've only just arrived, but I've been filled in on the situation. You're in charge of the reinforcements now. Something tells me we ought to hear these people out"

Armin fell to the ground in relief. Riley did the same and fell to his knees

'That was too close'

* * *

"So visiting this cellar should clear everything up?"

"yes sir... I think so sir"

Pyxis turned around to face them "For the moment there is no way to validate your claims you've made. For now I'll just catalog them in here" He tapped his head then began walking towards the quartet "With that said, I can usually tell the difference between the sincere and those who aren't. Which is why i'll personally guarantee your safety"

They all breathed as sigh of relief. Then Pyxis's eyes fell onto Armin.

"You're cadet Armin Arlert, is that correct?"

Armin saluted "Yes, sir"

"You mentioned a planned to harness this so called titan ability, and utilize both of your friends power to seal that hole and retake the city. Do you think it could work or were you just grasping at straws to try and save your hides"

"Well" Armin gave the Commander a look of determination "Both Commander. I was going to suggest that Eren, using the strength of his titan could lift the boulder, if Eren fails then Riley could take over the job, both can't be near each other though. It'll attract too much titans. That was the best idea I could come up with to try and convince people that Eren and Riley aren't enemies... Granted I was also trying to survive"

Pyxis walked and knelt in front of Eren

"What do you say, Cadet Yeager? Can you both plug that hole up?"

Eren looked down "Maybe I can. Maybe I can't. I don't know. I don't feel I can risk giving an irresponsible answer"

"Ah, yes. My apologies I asked the wrong question" Pyxis looked at both Riley and Eren

"Are you willing to... Cadet Yeager?"

Eren looked at the land behind him. Riley did the same.

'We don't have much land left... If we don't take back Trost, then the titans will take Wall Rose' Riley grunted at the predicament

"I'll do it... I don't know If I can but I'll do it"

Pyxis then turned to Riley "And you?"

"I'll do it"

"Excellently said, you both have hearts of lions" He stood up and leaned over the walls "STAFF OFFICERS GET UP HERE WE HAVE A PLAN TO FLESH OUT!"

Riley looked at Trost and the titans roaming around it

"Titans aren't our only foe"

"Yea... He's right"

Armin looked at them curiously "What are you guys talking about?"

"Look alive soldiers"

They looked at Pyxis with his staff behind him "The fate of humanity rests on your hands"

"You two, follow me" He said pointing at Riley and Eren "You two, these are my two officers, discuss the plan with them"

"SIR!"

As the commander began to walk along the walls towards he glanced towards Riley

"Are you always this quiet?"

Eren turned to Riley "Yea, you've been awfully quiet. Is something on your mind?"

Riley closed his eyes "No... I'm fine"

Pyxis looked forward as well did Eren.

"I've seen that look before Cadet, trust me. Losing your squad is the hardest of all things to cope with especially because they were under your command and you feel responsible. I know how you feel, you blame yourself for their deaths"

Riley clenched his fists while Eren looked down "It was my fault... If I hadn't reacted the way I had, they would still be alive"

Riley sighed "Mina's still alive... We lost Mylius and Nac...You already know about Thomas"

Eren looked at Riley then back at the ground

"ATTENTION!"

The street filled with soldiers turned quiet.

"I will now explain to you the details of the Trost Recovery Operation! The objective of this operation is to seal the hole in the demolished gate! As for how we'll accomplish this, let me start by introducing this fellow! This is Eren Jaeger, a member of the Cadets!"

Eren steps up and salutes

"He is the successful result of our top-secret Titan transformation experiments! He is able to fabricate a Titan's body and control it at will! In Titan form, he will lift that giant rock near the front gate, carry it to the wrecked gate, and seal the hole! As for you, you're to defend him from the other Titans while he carries the rock!"

Pyxis then motioned at Riley "For Eren's back up, we have here another Cadet! Riley Jaegar! If Eren should fall, he will also assume Titan form and continue Eren's mission. Having two Titans close to each other will only attract other titans, so unfortunately we cannot deploy them both at once!"

As the information sunk in with the crowd, many began to doubt and revolt.

"By my order all who leave now are absolved of their crime! Those who've succumbed to the Titans' terror once before can never face them again! Anyone who has already experienced their horror may leave! And, those who want their family and loved ones to experience that same horror may leave as well!"

The soldiers who had previously wanted to leave began to turn around.

"Let me tell you why this wall cannot fall! Let's discuss four years ago! Namely, the operation to retake Wall Maria! I'm sure none of this needs saying! Calling it a "recovery operation" gave it a nice ring, but it was essentially a way to dispose of the unemployed masses that the government couldn't support! The reason no one has spoken out about it is because sending them outside is what has allowed us to survive inside these cramped walls! All of humanity-myself included-is guilty! Conflict never arose simply because Wall Maria's citizens were in the minority! But what about now?! If Wall Rose falls, humanity will lose much more than 20% of its population! Wall Sina wouldn't be able to support even half of the people still alive! If we humans go extinct, it won't be because we were eaten by Titans! It'll be because we killed ourselves off! We cannot afford to die any further inside. I kindly ask of you! Please die here! Please die so others can live!"

Riley's eyes went wide

'Armin's grandfather... Was killed because the government couldn't support them?'

After the short briefing, Pyxis approached Riley

"I have another mission for you"

Riley saluted

"I need you to lead a squad"

Riley froze "Sir..."

"This is an easy task... Like Eren's escorts, I'm going to need you to form a squad of 5. You'll be above the wall with the decoy squad but when the time does come for when Eren needs help, you'll be sent out"

Riley sighed "Understandable sir! I'll form my squad right now!"

Pyxis nodded as Riley ran off over the edge of the wall and jumped. He shot his hook, allowing him to slide down the wall. The metal began to spark up as he grinded down the wall

Eren watched him and smirked "Always gotta be badass huh Riley?".

Riley slowed his descent until he reached the ground. He began walking towards the center to see if he could find anyone from the training corps. Once reached the center he saw everyone from his training corps gathered. Then he saw one of his squad mates.

"Mina.." They turned to him

"RILEY! What's this mission all about do yo-"

Riley held up his hand at Connie "Shut the fuck up for one second" He turned his attention back towards Mina.

"Listen, I'm forming a squad of 5, I'm thinking Armin will join me so I only need 3 more members, 2 if you join"

Without any hesitation she nodded her head "Yes. Of course sir!"

Riley smiled "Thank you" then he looked up at the others. "Marco, I could use your enthusiasm wanna join?"

"Sure! I'll be glad to be of any help" Riley nodded

"Great. I just need one more member? Anyone willing?"

Jean stepped up "I'll go"

Riley raised a brow "I'll be leading Jean, I don't know if you can not-not be a leader"

Jean chuckled "Don't worry, I'll follow your orders"

Riley smiled "Hey If I die then you-"

"That's not funny..."

Riley chuckled awkwardly "Right... Anyway let's go"

They all deployed their hooks and made their way towards the top of the wall.

* * *

Riley sat on the edge of the wall, bored.

His squad was behind him conversing with the decoy squad.

He turned his head and looked at Armin conversing with someone then glanced at Jean and Marco who were arguing about something then at Mina who chatted with Annie. Riley turned back looking down at the city

'This time... This time no one will die'

"Hey, squad lead! Take it easy!"

Riley turned his head looking at Marco

"Marco, when you have the lives of 4 other people on your hands you get really focused and determined not to get them kill" Riley stood up and ran a hand through his hair.

Armin looked at him with a sad smile "Come on... You saved me and Mina that counts for something. And Eren isn't dead."

"Don't forget Mikasa!" Mina chimed in "I heard from Annie you gave her your last gas tank, I never thought you'd risk your life for someone else"

Riley scoffed "I compared myself to her and simply made a decision. She's more skilled and controlled than me"

Jean shook his head "Every life matters, skill doesn't have anything to do with it"

"Yea... If we were offered two of the worlds greatest warriors to replace you, we'd pick you over them" Marco said

"PLUS YOU'RE A FREAKING TITAN! I MEAN HOW COOL IS THAT!" Mina yelled

"It's more of a curse..." Riley said looking at his hands

Pyxis looked over at Riley, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a his canteen "Cadet...Need a drink?"

Riley looked over and sighed. He walked towards the commander and took the canteen. He took a small swig before recapping the canteen and handing it back to Pyxis.

"Thank you, sir"

Pyxis turned his gaze towards the city as did Riley.

"What is taking them so damn long"

"Patience cadet... If I didn't know better you want to go down there and fight"

Riley grunted "I do... I want to get this mission over and done with"

Pyxis glanced at Riley then back at the city "I have a question for you, Cadet"

"Go ahead, sir"

"If you were ordered to die, would you do it?"

Riley scoffed "It depends, what am I dying for?"

"That's a very good question, Cadet. Most soldiers here ask themselves that"

"Well... I'm not most soldiers am I, sir"

Pyxis chuckled "no you are not"

Then suddenly a bolt of electricity flashed across the sky and the roar of a titan could be heard

"Squad 25! Get ready, Eren has transformed!" Riley yelled then turned to Pyxis "Sir, if you don't mind. I'm going to join my squad"

"Go ahead, Cadet"

Riley walked over towards the others.

"You guys alright?"

"Yes sir!" They said in unison

"Are YOU alright sir?" Marco said. Riley took a seat next to him and sighed

"No... No I am not. Right now I wish I was back in our trainee days running my 200 laps"

Jean chuckled "You never finished those actually. Shadis just let you train with us even after you broke Annie's ribs"

Riley chuckled nervously "You guys heard of that?"

"Are you kidding? That was the talk of the camp, how you beat Annie up and injured her" Armin said way to cheerily that it was weird.

"I could've easily beat him into submission if I wanted"

He looked over and saw Annie sit near him. Riley looked at her curiously "What do you mean?! You did beat me to submission! Multiple times actually!"

Annie let a small smile fall on her face "Oh yeah"

Jean watched the interaction a gaping mouth while Mina giggled

Suddenly their fun was cut short when a red flare was shot into the air

"That's the signal" Quickly standing up Riley looked at his team "SQUAD 25 GEAR CHECK!"

"SIR!" They got into a line and check each others gear

"Position yourself and we'll deploy shortly, if you've got final goodbyes to say, say it now"

"SIR!"

Riley stood over the edge and looked at the mass of titans beginning to enter the city

"You should follow your own orders" He turned around and saw Annie looking down the city below

"What do you mean?" She sighed in annoyance

"Never mind"

Riley nodded awkwardly not really knowing what to say. He heard Mina groan in the back,

"You're so dense! She means for you to say goodbye to her!"

Riley looked at her then at Annie who avoided his gaze then down at the city

"No... I'm not saying goodbye" Then he turned and looked at Annie "I'm not saying goodbye because, I'll see you again soon. As cheesy as that sounds but it's the truth"

She looked at him for a few seconds before softly smiling.

"Holy shit... There's so many" He heard someone, he turned and saw that more and more titans began to enter the city

Riley looked over at his squad seeing their nervousness on their expression even if they did try to hide.

"25! LISTEN UP!"

It got their attention and some soldiers from the decoy squad

"We lost a lot of good people in Trost. Right now were at a battle that none of us were expecting but we were prepared! It's up to us to make sure those who have fallen and sacrificed themselves for humanity did not die in vain. It's our job to make sure this day does not mean nothing. Today we make this day known as humanity's first victory! Right now that red flare means, Eren failed. It means that the MISSION has failed. TO US IT MEANS GO! I CAN'T PROMISE YOU'LL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE BUT I WILL TRY! I WILL TRY TO KEEP YOU SAFE AND I WILL TRY TO FIGHT WITH ALL I'VE GOT!"

Riley looked at each other faces, confidence slowly growing

"Now... Can I ask you to give me all YOU'VE got!"

"SIR! YES! SIR!"

"Outstanding. WE DEPLOY IN 10"

"10"

"9"

"KICKASS 25!"

"8"

"KICK SOME TITAN ASS"

"7"

"good luck soldiers"

"6"

"drinks on me when you guys get home!"

"5"

"4"

Annie looked over at Riley

"3"

"Come back safe"

"2"

"I will"

"1"

"I promise"

Riley pulled the trigger of his controller and propelled forward. So four more ODM gear sounded as the rest of his squad joined him.

'This is it... It's time to take back Trost'


End file.
